War Is Cruel
by AnonymousUser3426
Summary: War is never taken lightly, for it is a difficult time. Feliciano has finally returned to Ludwig, nervously awaiting his reaction. GerIta AU with human names used.


Feliciano had been growing angrier the past few months, and had seemed to be trying harder at training. He had stopped complaining about running, and had been showing improvement. The German had been yelling at him about trying harder, and all the other nations had been calling him weak or making jokes behind his back. He hated it, and he wanted to prove that he actually was strong and that he could handle being on his own.

He'd disappeared a month ago and was now covered in blood and a few bruises, walking through the forest trying to find a place to rest. He was returning from launching a long attack on another country, and it was slowly taking its toll, causing him to feel a bit worn out. He saw the house of his friend in the distance, but wasn't exactly sure whether or not he wanted to see him. He had run off a month ago, and maybe he'd been relieved when the usually loud Italian was no longer visiting and making a mess, despite the fact he'd been improving quickly. Still, it was a place to rest, and his armies had taken helicopters back, but he'd said he wanted to be by himself for a bit. The order had been followed, leaving him to his thoughts and time to unwind a bit after all the fighting. He knew the events would have been on the news, so he had to know what had happened, but decided he might as well rest and shower now that he could. Slowly opening the door, a part of him hoped the other wasn't home as he headed up the stairs to the bathroom to shower. He winced hearing the floorboard creak, and just continued moving up the stairs slowly.

"What are you doing?!" He yelped as Ludwig yelled at him. "I-I was just going to go take a shower," he said and glanced back at him."Do you know how worried we were?!" He stepped closer. "Do you know how much we wanted to do something?! Do you know how much I missed you?!" His eyes widened when he realized what he said."Mi dispiace..." he said quietly and flinched at his tone, taking another step back. "I really didn't mean to worry you...sorry."

"Never mind...you're covered in blood."

"Can we talk after I get a shower? It might be a little less awkward then..."

"Ja, fine, go..." Ludwig got out of his way quickly. Feliciano went to the guest room and grabbed the clothes he'd left there then headed to the bathroom to shower at least enough to get all the blood and dirt off him and bandage himself up as much as he could.

Downstairs, the German rubbed his temples in annoyance. "I said I missed him, I wonder if he found that suspicious. How the hell could I fall for him?" While Feliciano showered he thought about what he'd said, and eventually went downstairs wearing the clean clothes with the bloody ones tucked up under his arm. "Toss them in the wash, I guess." Ludwig sat down in the chair, sighing. He just nodded and went to go put the clothes in the wash, and once he was done he walked back out to the living room. "Hey."

"Hey." The silence was uncomfortable. He was uncomfortable with the silence too, but said nothing as he sat down on the couch. "So...what have you been up to?"

"Stuff..." Feliciano muttered evasively, not sure how to phrase it and not feeling all too proud of it as he had in the beginning. "What kind of stuff?" He pressed on. "Getting myself into stupid situations...but yeah...I figured you knew. Attacks aren't exactly secret."

"No, they are not." Ludwig paused, trying to figure out what to say next. "Have you heard from your brother?"

"No, I was going to get in touch with him soon...have you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "A little bit. I asked him about you, but he said something to the effect of 'how am I supposed to know, potato bastard?!'"

"Oh...has he said anything else?" Feliciano asked, looking up. "Nein, besides that you were probably off doing something stupid again. Then he hit me with a tomato." Ludwig sighed. Feliciano's lip twitched slightly in a smirk. "I see.. well that's typical of him...I don't see why he wastes tomatoes by throwing them at people though. They seem to be his main weapon."

"He blamed me for it, you'd think he'd just eat them. Speaking of eating...would you happen to want some pasta?" Feliciano seemed to perk up slightly at that and nodded. "Yes." Ludwig gave a small smile as he went into the kitchen and turned on the stove. Feliciano followed him quietly so he could watch him, leaning against the counter. "What are you doing?" he asked, putting the pasta in the pot. "Watching you."

"Why are you doing that?"

"I'm bored." Ludwig muttered,"There's the Feli I missed..."

"Ludwig, you haven't called me Feli in a long time...are you alright?" He studied his face."Ja, I'm more worried about you, though." He stirred the pasta slightly. "Oh...grazie. Um...what did you mean earlier?"

_Verdammt._ "What do you mean? I said plenty of things earlier."

"When you asked if I realized how much you missed me. Did you really?" He sighed, turning away from the stove. "Of course I did, I missed you every day."

"Ve, you did?"

"Ja." Feliciano hugged him gently. "I missed you too, Ludwig," he whispered in his ear. The German tensed up slightly, then relaxed as the shorter man placed a hand on his cheek. "So much. For a while I wanted...to do this..." He stood on his tiptoes and lightly kissed him quickly before pulling away. Ludwig made a noise in shock before looking down at him. "Um...ti amo, Ludwig..." He ducked his head, expecting a scolding. Instead his chin was tilted up by a gloved hand to meet the owner's gaze. "Feli...ich liebe dich auch." He gave one of those rare and true smiles. "Welcome home."

The pasta was long forgotten.

* * *

_Translations:_

_Mi dispiace - (Italian) I'm sorry_

_Grazie - (Italian) Thank you_

_Verdammt - (German) Dammit_

_Ti amo - (Italian) I love you_

_Ich liebe dich auch - (German) I love you too_


End file.
